Advocate editorial board opinion: Recycling program expansion is good for Victoria

By the Advocate Editorial Board
May 8, 2012 at 12:08 a.m.

Recycling is popular in Victoria. So popular, in fact, that the city council has voted 6-0 in favor of expanding the service to commercial customers.

This is an exciting development for Victoria and we encourage Victoria businesses to take advantage of this opportunity and participate in this program. We applaud the city council for taking this step and responding to the requests of their constituents.

The program will be optional, but the city expects a high volume of participation, based on the level of interest previously expressed. As Councilman Joe Truman said, the second most asked question when residential recycling came online was: "When will our businesses be able to do it?"

We are excited to see this much interest in a service that will not only help our environment, but also extend the life of our landfill.

The best part about all of this is the commercial service will not cost the city any extra money. Businesses will pay the cost of the extra containers, whether they choose to have a 96-gallon cart or a commercial Dumpster on their property, with the option of weekly or twice weekly pick up. Also, Waste Management will provide the city three Dumpsters at no charge to be picked up weekly. The city Dumpsters will be at the city purchasing department, 1201 E. Pine St.; the city building, 700 N. Main St.; and at City Hall, 105 W. Juan Linn St.

We applaud the people and businesses of Victoria for embracing the curbside recycling program and requesting the program be extended to businesses also. It is encouraging to know we live in a city where residents are willing to take this effort to protect our environment. We look forward to seeing the good effects of these efforts in the future.

This editorial reflects the views of the Victoria Advocate's editorial board.